A Canadian journalist who has spent more than a year in a Cairo prison moved one step closer to freedom Thursday as an Egyptian court ordered him released on bail.
The unexpected development prompted expressions of jubilation from Mohamed Fahmy's family, although the 40-year-old's legal battles aren't quite over yet.
Egyptian Judge Hassan Farid granted bail for Fahmy about an hour after the start of a retrial for him and an Egyptian co-worker, who face terror-related charges their families have called ridiculous. The case was then put over to Feb. 23.
The bail announcement drew applause from the packed courtroom and prompted Fahmy's fiancee to cheer "long live justice."
"I just want to say thank you Egypt, thank you for doing the right thing," a tearful Marwa Omara told reporters. "I am very happy. It is a rebirth for me and Mohamed."
Omara added that she and Fahmy could now plan their long-delayed wedding.
"It was a very tough time for us. We've suffered a lot and Mohamed is a victim," she said. "It's time for me, for Mohamed to relax."
Fahmy was the only defendant in the case who was ordered to pay a bail amount equivalent to about C$41,000 as he was considered a flight risk. Lawyers said the judge ordered all defendants in the case to report to their local police station every day and, in a vague sentence, said none are allowed to leave their "hometown."
Fahmy's Egyptian lawyer said it was not clear if that was an explicit decision against Fahmy leaving the country — which his family has been pushing for through a law that allows foreigners convicted of crimes to be deported.
Fahmy and two colleagues — Australian Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed — were arrested while working for satellite news broadcaster Al Jazeera English in December 2013.
They were convicted last summer after a trial that was internationally denounced as a sham. A retrial was ordered after a successful appeal in early January.
Greste was then suddenly set free at the beginning of this month under the new deportation legislation and Fahmy, who relinquished his dual Egyptian citizenship in December, expected to follow.
The matter was brought up by Fahmy in court on Thursday, but the judge didn't address the issue.
"I didn't ask to give up my Egyptian citizenship. I was asked to do so," Fahmy said in the courtroom, after being allowed out of a soundproof glass cage where prisoners are held.
Fahmy told court that security officials asked him to relinquish his Egyptian citizenship in order to be allowed to leave the country. He also said that Canadian officials told him his deportation was "imminent."
"We packed up our luggage. My fiancee quit. We booked tickets," he said, raising an Egyptian flag in the courtroom after he spoke.
The Canadian government welcomed the journalist's release on bail but said the prospect of Fahmy standing retrial is "unacceptable."
"We continue to call for his immediate and full release," said Lynne Yelich, junior minister responsible for consular affairs.
Yelich added that Canadian officials raised Fahmy's case with Egyptian officials 19 times in the last two weeks.
A spokesman for Stephen Harper said the prime minister personally reached out to his Egyptian counterpart on Fahmy's case, but provided no further details.
It was unclear if Fahmy would be reunited with his family on Thursday, the last day before the weekend in Egypt, but the family said they had already paid bail.
"We are happy the gloom has now lifted. It is an opening of hope," said Fahmy's mother Wafaa Bassiouni. "But we hope for acquittal, not just release. Nothing he has done deserves those 14 months in prison."
The wife of Fahmy's Egyptian colleague expressed similar feelings as news of her husband's release on bail was announced.
"I am happy but my happiness is incomplete until he gets acquitted," said Jehane Rashed, who delivered a child while her husband was in detention.
Meanwhile, Greste, who is now back home in Australia, tweeted his congratulations to his colleagues and called the bail decision a "huge step forward," but added it was "not time to declare it over."
Al Jazeera called the development "a small step in the right direction."
"The focus though is still on the court reaching the correct verdict at the next hearing by dismissing this absurd case and releasing both these fine journalists unconditionally," the broadcaster said in a statement.
The Canadian Journalists for Free Expression — which has been advocating for Fahmy's release ever since his arrest — said it was "heartened" by the news but continued to push for an end to the journalist' legal battles.
